Emil bitter



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EMIL RITTER v; SKODA. BRBEGH LOADING ORDNANGB.

` No. 449,711. PatentedApL 7, 181971.-

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EMIL RITTER V. SKODA. BREBGH LOADING RDNANGE.

No. 449,711. Patented Apr. 7, 1891.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL RITTER VON SKODA, OF PILSEN, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

eREEcH-LQADING ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 449,711, dated April7, 1891.

Application tiled September 22, 1890. Serial No. 365,757. (No modela Toall whom t may concern.-

Beit known that LEMIL RITTER von SKODA, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria, residing at Pilsen, in' the Province of Bohemia, in the Empireof Austriallungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBreech-Loading Guns and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked there on,which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to breech-loading ordnance, and more especially tothat class of ordnance in which the breech-block has motion in a planeat right angles to the axis of the breech chamber, and in which theiiringpin is contained within the breechblock.

The object of my invention is to simplify the breech mechanism; and theinvention consists in structural features and combinations of parts, aswill now be fully described, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of so much of thebreech end of a gun as Will be necesf sary to illustrate my invention.Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation of the same. Figs. 3and et are vertical axial sectional elevations of Fig. 1,showing thefiring mechanism in its position after firing and ready for firing,respectively. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view illustrating a coiledmainspring in combination with a tubular 'firingpin in lieu of aleaf-spring, as shown 1n the above-described iigures. Figs. G and 7 areviews similar to Figs. 1 and 2, respectively,

illustrating the breech-block and ring-pin actuating mechanism asarranged axially of the breech fblock. Figs. 8 and 9 are like viewsillustrating the arrangement of the shell-extractor relatively to thebreech-block, which latter is not shown in Fig. 9; and Fig. lO is adetail elevation iu which the arrangement of the sear or main lever isshown as engaging the firing-pin from below.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever` such may occurin the above drawto the axis of the gun.

a 1s the lever for actuating the breech-action, which lever is fulcrumedat a. This lever is practically a two-armed lever, whose shorter arm c2is pivotally connected with the breech-block A by means of a link B anda pin or stud b, that projects from the upper end of said link into thebreech-block, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive. The pin b has motionwithin its bearing in the breechblock and has a radial lug b', adaptedto engage the lug c, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, on the ringpin @,that iscontained in a cylindrical chamber formed axially in the breech-block.

By the side of the lug c on the ring-pin is formed a second lug c', Fig.2, adapt-ed to be engaged by a detent-lever E, that is fulcrumed at e ina vertical recess formed in the breech block Ain rear of the firing-pinO. (See Figs. 2, 3, and 4:.) The lever E is constructed in the form ofan angle-lever, the shorter horizontal arm c2 of which has alocking-shoulder thatvengages the lug c on the firing-pin O. To thevertical arm e' of lever E, which arm projects downwardly and out of thebreechblock A, is secured the mainspring d, the free end whereof hasbearing on the rear end of the firing-pin C, as shown. The detent-leverE is simply suspended upon its pivot or fulcrum pin e, and has astop-arm e3, that bears against an abutment or shoulder formed in thebreech-block, the lever being thus firmly braced at opposite endsagainst the stress of the mainspring cl.

From the description of the construction of the breechaction it will beseen that the parts are very few and simple and that the movement of thelever-arm a2 and link B is very limited as compared witli the movementof like parts in guns of this class.

VThe shell-extractor consists of two levers G, fulcrumed on a pin gbelow the breech, and each of saidv levers is providedwith a pin g',that takes into a vertical groove g2, formed in the opposite sides ofthe breechblock A, the upper end of said groove being curved rearwardly,so that the movements of the extractor' are controlled by those of thcIOO breech-block itself instead of being controlled by independentdevices.

By reference to Figs. 8 and 9 it will readily be understood that whenthe operating-lever ais moved from its position shown in full lines inFig. l to that shown in dotted lines in said figure the link B will drawthe breechblock A down, not in a line perpendicular' to the axis of thegun, but in a line that inclines more or less rearwardly, so that theextractor-levers G will be moved rearwardly to the same extent for thepurpose of loosening or starting the empty shell in the breech, and asthe pins g on the said extractor-levers enter the rearwardly-curvedportion of the grooves g2 the extractor-levers will also moverearwardly, and the empty cartridge-shell will be extracted from thebreech and ejected, at which time the breech-block will have reached itslowermost position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and the pinsc/"will lie in the upper end of the grooves g2. /Vhen the lever a isreturned into its normal position for the purpose of closing the breech,

` one of them only may be connected with the breech-block instead ofboth. On the other hand, the extractor lever or levers may be fulcrumedabove instead of below the breechblock, in which case the curved portionof the guide-groove g2 will be at the lower end of said breech-blockinstead of being at the upper end.

Insteadof aleaf-mainspringcl, a coiled mainspring may be used, in whichcase I preferably provide the firing-pin C with a socket for thereception of the free end of the said coiled spring, as shown in Fig. 5,Furthermore, the lug c may be formed on the lower portion ofthetiring-pin and the horizontal arm c2 of the detent-lever E locatedaccordingly,

`as shown in Fig. l0, in which case the lever from the lower portion ofthe firing-pin O..

Finally, the body of theiiriug-pin C need not necessarily be ofcylindrical form in crosssection, but may be of a polygonal form.

As shown in Fig. G, the trigger f is a cam on a pin provided withcrank,-said cam having bearing on the free end of the detent-lever E.

The advantages of the described breech-action consist in the greatsimplicity and the small number of the co-operative parts, all of whichmay be made very strong; also, in that the arrangement of thecooperative devices admits of the use of a very short firing-pin whollyconcealed or contained Within the breech-block, and by providingapositive connection between the breech-block and shellextractor andarranging the latter so as to have motion on a tixed pivot the operationof the said extractor is rendered absolutely certain, it being whollycontrolled by the breechblock.v Finally, by connecting theshell-extractor with the breech-block the operation of the former isrendered more accurate than would be the case otherwise.

Having described my invention, whatV I claim is.

1. In a breech-loading gun in which the breech-block has atraversngmotion in a di rection at right angles to the axis of the gun, thecombination, with the breech-'chamber and said breech-block provided in'one of its lateral faces with a vertical groove having arearwardly-curved end, of a shell-extractor lever having motion on afixed pivot in a plane at right angles to the plane ofmotion of theblock, said lever having a pin or stud projecting into the groove of theblock, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a gun of the class described, the combination, with thebreech-chamber, a verticalslot in rear thereof, the breech-block havingmotion in said slot, an actuating-lever having two arms of unequallength, and a link pivotally connected with the breech-block and theshort arm of the lever, of a tiring-pin contained Within thebreech-block, a spring having bearing on the end of the ring-pin, and anactuating device controlled by the lever and link for imparting motionto the firing-pin against the stress of its spring, for the purpose setforth.

3. In a gun of the class described, the combination, with thebreech-chamber, a vertical slot in rear of said chamber, thebreech-block having motion in said slot, a lever having: two arms ofunequal length, and a link pitfotally connected with the block and shortarm ot the lever, of a firing-pin contained within the breech-block, aspring having bearing on the end of the tiring-pin, an actuating devicecontrolled by the lever and link for imparting motion to the tiring-pinagainst the stress of the spring, and a detent for locking thefiring-pin against motion under the stress of its spring, the saidactuating device, spring, and detent being also contained within thebreech-block, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a gun of the class described, the combination, with thebreech-chamber, a vertical slot in rear thereof, the breech-block havingmotion in said slot, a lever having arms of ICO unequal length, and alink pivotally connected with the block and short arm of the lever, of afiring-pin contained within the breech-block, a spring having bearing onthe rear end of the firing-pin, an actuating device controlled bythelever and link to iinpart motion to the tiring-pin against the stressof its spring, and a detent to which the heel of the spring is secured,adapted to lock the firing-pin against motion under the stress of itsspring, said actuating device, spring, and detent being contained withinthe breechblock, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a gun of the class described, the combination,with thebreech-chamber, a vertical slot in rear thereof, the breech-block havingmotion in said slot, a lever having two arms of different length, and alink pivotally connected with the breech-block and the shorter arm ofthe lever, of a firing-pin, a detent consist-ing of an angle-leversuspended from a pin within the b1eecl1block in rear of the tiring-pin,a spring interposed between the de- 1 tent and tiring-pin and havingbearing on both, said detent being adapted to lock the firing-pinagainst motion under the stress of the spring, and an actuating devicecontrolled by the lever and link for moving the tiring pin against thestress of its spring, for the purpose set forth.

6. In a gun of the class described, the combination, with thebreech-chamber, avertical slot in rear thereof, the breech-bolt, and aspring-actuated firing-pin contained Within the bolt and having aprojecting abutment, of a lever having two arms of unequal length, alink provided with a pivot-pin having bearing in the breech-bolt andbeing provided with a radial lug adapted to engage the abutment on thering-pin, and a pivotal connection between the link and short arm of thelever, for the purpose set forth.

'7. In a gun of the class described, the combination,with thebreech-chamber, the breechblock, a spring actuated firing pin containedin said block and provided with a shoulder or abutment, a two-armedlever c, and a link B, pivotally connected with the block, the pivot-pinof the link being provided with a lug or radial arm having bearing onthe abutment of the firing-pin to move the same against the stress ofits spring, of the angle-lever E and a spring interposed between saidlever and the pin and having bearing on both, as and for the purposesset forth.

8. ln a gun of the class described, the combination,with thebreech-chamber, the breechblock, a spring actuated firing pin containedin said block and provided with a shoulder or abutment, a two-armedlever a, and a link B, pivotally connected with the block, the pivot-pinof the link being provided with a lug or radial arm having bearing onthe abutment of the firing-pin to move the same against the stress ofits spring, of the anglelever E and the flat spring d, having its heelconnected with the vertical arm of the lever and its free end in contactwith the rear face of the firing-pin, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony whereof Iaffix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

EMIL RITTER. V. SKODA.

Witnesses:

ALFRED ScHEFrNnn, ADoLrH FISCHER.

